[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Pages 23498-23499]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                  IRAQ

  Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I spent the month of August on our break 
traveling the State of Georgia and did it for a specific reason. I knew 
that September 15 would be the report period for Ambassador Crocker and 
for General Petraeus. I knew it was very important for me as a Senator 
to go to the people of Georgia and find out what was on their minds.
  As I introduced myself in every speech I made, I said: As a Member of 
the Senate, and with our men and women deployed in harm's way, it is 
absolutely incumbent upon me, first and foremost, to address the Iraq 
war, to address my votes, and to hear from the people of Georgia on 
what they feel.
  When I returned to the Senate last night and I was on the floor, I 
had the occasion to listen to a speech by the Senator from New York, 
questioning, again, our involvement in Iraq and, even in advance of the 
Petraeus report, taking a position that whatever it was, it would not 
be good enough and the United States of America should withdraw. So I 
thought today I would come to the floor and speak not only my mind but 
I think the consensus of the people of Georgia regarding where we are 
now and where we may be in the months ahead.
  I visited civic clubs, chambers of commerce, garden clubs, the State 
chamber of commerce and sat for a meaningful hour with Lucy and Rick 
Harris, the parents of LT Noah Harris, who died 2 years ago fighting 
for the United States of America in Iraq. I tried to get every 
perspective. I even spent half a day with new recruits at Fort Benning 
at the Third ID on their fourth day of basic training.
  Next week is an important week for the United States of America, and 
the report by General Petraeus is an important report. There are some 
Members of the Senate who are invested in, whatever it says, staying 
the course, there are some who are invested in coming home no matter 
what it says, when, in fact our actions should lie between. We should 
wait and hear what the general says. We should wait and hear what 
Ambassador Crocker says. But also it is time for us to start thinking 
about defining what victory is rather than declaring, as some have 
done, that we have lost.
  We all know there are positive words coming back from Iraq. We know 
some positive things have happened. But we know it is not done, and we 
know it is not over. But I think, in defining what victory is, it is 
important to remember the speech the President of the United States 
made the day before we all voted to authorize the engagement in Iraq 
and enforcement of U.N. Resolution 1441.
  The President established three precise goals for our involvement in 
Iraq. No. 1 was to depose Saddam Hussein and find, if they existed, the 
weapons of mass destruction that every nation in the world thought 
Saddam Hussein had and U.N. Resolution 1441 delineated; second, to 
allow the Iraqi people to hold free elections and establish a 
government of their choosing; and the third goal was to adequately 
train the Iraqi military so it could successfully defend and protect 
that fledgling new Government.
  On goal No. 1, Saddam Hussein was captured, he was deposed, he was 
tried by the people of Iraq, and he was executed.
  On the weapons of mass destruction, there are those who say we didn't 
find them. We found all the components. The problem when you find a 
weapon of mass destruction, when you have a smoking gun, it has already 
gone off. So sometimes finding the components is better. We did find 
Scud missiles buried in the sand between Damascus and Baghdad in Iraq, 
we found traces of sarin gas, we found mobile biological laboratories 
dismantled, and we found mass graves where hundreds of thousands of 
Iraqis had been killed. The evidence was there.
  Second, in terms of the Government and establishing elections, the 
Iraqi people in 18 months held three elections, wrote a constitution, 
and established a government. Goal 2 accomplished.
  Goal 3, to adequately train the Iraqi Army so it could defend the 
people of Iraq and that fledgling government. I think it is very 
instructive to recognize what has happened in recent days and in past 
months. Yesterday, the British left Basra, and as they left Basra and 
their post, who replaced them? Not the American military but the Iraqi 
military, a clear and distinct sign that the Iraqi military is gaining 
the ability to defend this fledgling country on their own.
  Second, what happened 3 weeks ago. We finally captured and killed the 
bomber who set off the mosque bombing that set off the sectarian 
violence about a year and a half ago. Who captured him? Mr. President, 
1,000 Iraqi troops with close air support by America, but the ground 
action was the Iraqis. On the ``clear and hold and secure'' of the 
surge, we have Americans and Iraqi soldiers embedded, side by side, 
holding those parts of Baghdad that we have secured, holding them so 
reconstruction can take place.
  We are making positive steps, and we are on the cusp of the third 
goal being accomplished. We are not there yet, but we are on the cusp 
of it.

[[Page 23499]]

  Where are we? We need to listen to what General Petraeus comes back 
and recommends, and Ambassador Crocker. I will not prejudge what the 
report will say because I have not seen it yet, but I think we all know 
there is enough evidence that we are coming close that it is very 
important we pay attention to the months ahead, which will be the most 
critical in our engagement in Iraq.
  To that end, I want to share a little bit of the advice of a good 
friend to me, Lucy Harris, in Ellijay, GA. Lucy and I and her husband 
Rick and her late son Noah's fiancee--he was killed in Iraq--sat with a 
reporter and photographer from the Washington Post, and they recorded 
our conversation that particular day for an article they wrote 
recently. But I want to share with the Members the Senate some of the 
advice Lucy gave to me. She lost her only son. Her only son was a 
cheerleader at the University of Georgia on 9/11/2001 who, upon that 
tragic day, walked up to the military ROTC on campus as a junior and 
said: I want to join and get a commission.
  They said: You can't because you don't have enough time. You have to 
have 2 years.
  He said: I will make up the time.
  Finally, the Army reluctantly agreed, and sure enough, in 18 months 
Noah Harris got his commission in ROTC and became a second lieutenant 
in the U.S. military. He volunteered because he wanted to confront the 
evil and terror he saw on that particular day.
  He was known as the Beanie Baby soldier in Iraq. He led a platoon in 
Iraq, and he carried, in one big pocket on his right leg, bullets, and 
in another big pocket on his left leg he carried Beanie Babies, and he 
shared them with the Iraqi kids as he would go through securing and 
patrolling areas of Baghdad. His unit started carrying Beanie Babies 
and other good things for the Iraqi kids. While defending freedom and 
hopefully securing that country, he was also winning the minds of those 
children.
  Tragically, he was lost in the explosion of an IED in Iraq. I 
attended his funeral and saw the outpouring of love from a thousand 
people in his community. So when Lucy sat down last week in Ellijay, 
GA, her advice to me was important and her advice to me was what 
appears on their car's license plate: IDWIC, those letters, because her 
son, Noah, who e-mailed back and forth with me before his tragic 
passing, always said: IDWIC--I do what I can. That was his motto. That 
is why he went to Iraq, to do what he could for freedom and democracy, 
for peace and to end terror.
  That is what his mom Lucy and Rick do today--they do what they can. 
In their comments to the reporter, when asked what they think about all 
the debate going on in Washington about Iraq, Lucy said: I think the 
debate is healthy. I watch it. I think it is important. I think we 
should all do what we can, but we need to make sure that my son Noah 
did not die in vain.
  To that end, as I approach the votes we will take--I don't know on 
what, but I know it will be about Iraq--in the months and weeks ahead 
following the Petraeus report, I will do what I can to give us a chance 
to finish the job, win the victory the President outlined at the outset 
5 years ago on our entering Iraq, and honor and pay tribute to the 
sacrifice of the 3,700 or more Americans who have given their lives in 
the effort of the overall war on terror and in particular the securing 
of Iraq and the opportunity for a fledgling democracy to take hold in 
the Middle East.
  These are difficult times but not nearly as difficult for us as for 
the men and women who voluntarily go because they believe in our cause. 
I stand here today in the Senate hoping that all of us will not 
prejudge what Ambassador Crocker will say, or General Petraeus, nor 
should we declare defeat when we have victory within reach, nor should 
we declare victory if it is not there. But we should move forward in 
order to honor the sacrifice of the men and women who fight for our 
country voluntarily every day.
  For me, I am going to do what I can. I am going to take Lucy Harris 
and Rick Harris and Ashley's advice. I am going to honor the life of 
Noah by listening closely to the report, by recognizing why we went in 
the first place, and see to it we give ourselves a chance to declare 
the victory that has been so bravely fought for by the men and women of 
the U.S. military.
  I hope we will all have open minds and open hearts and give thanks 
for the sacrifices taking place and recognize again why we went in the 
first place and recognize again how close we are to achieving our 
goals.
  I yield the remainder of my time and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Whitehouse). The Senator from South 
Carolina is recognized.

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